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XL. The Wrath of God

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Aug 29, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 34.

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XL. The Wrath of God

By Editor

LET us disabuse our minds of the wrong conception of wrath as applied to God. The wrath which men have is sometimes foolish anger, unreasonable revenge based on purely selfish motives; not so with the wrath of God. God's wrath is founded in eternal justice, and is always against sin. It is executed, however, against persons, but only when these persons have identified themselves with sin. We have an illustration of this, clear and forcible, in the 9th and 10th chapters of Leviticus. In the 9th chapter of Leviticus are described various offerings that were made in the beginning of the service of the sanctuary. "And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of Jehovah appeared unto all the people. And there came forth fire from before Jehovah, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces." Those offerings represented their sin. They had separated from their sin. God consumed the sin. It was a blessed evidence to them that their sins were all forgiven, and they stood free and clear with God. The very next chapter presents before us another picture. God had commanded that sacred fire should be used in the burning of incense. Going utterly contrary to these instructions, which were so clear and explicit, "Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire therein, and laid incense thereon, and offered strange fire before Jehovah, which He had not commanded them. And there came forth fire from before Jehovah, and devoured them, and they died before Jehovah." They were slain because they had identified themselves with sin.
Through all the ages, God has felt and ever feels the same toward sin. But He has put forth every effort that Deity could put forth to save man from sin, to separate the sinner from his sin, to induce the sinner to give up his sin. Consequently, there have been mingled with His justice overflowing streams of mercy; and this love of God for the sinner has been so great, so clear, so strong that He gave His only-begotten Son to die that "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." That was the only plan by which the sinner could be saved. It is not simply one among many which God might have devised; it was in the very nature of the case the only one which could be devised by Infinite Wisdom.
It is God's eternal purpose that those who yield themselves to that only wise plan shall be saved. Those who do not thus yield themselves, take themselves outside of that plan, and identify themselves with all that is evil. Against these must come the wrath of God.
To put it another way: "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1: 15. In death the wrath of God culminates. God would have men grasp by faith the great fact kept ever before their eyes, that sin ends in death, however beautiful it may be, however sweet to our perverted senses, however dear to our natural, carnal heart. Sin ought to be seen in all its ugliness — death. Because of sin in the world, God veiled His glory, because in that glory sin perishes. And yet there will come a time when He will come into His own. He has kept Himself from His own creation, from the manifestation of His glory in the earth, through all the centuries. Only in character has His glory been manifest. In our Lord Jesus Christ it was perfectly manifest in righteousness; in His works it has been partially manifest; but there will come a time when He will come in the forth-shining of all the glory of His character. Before that glory all sin and all identified with sin shall perish. But before that coming occurs, when men have either accepted His truth, and are filled with the Spirit, or have utterly rejected His truth, and so rejected His Spirit, the restraining power of that Spirit in the outworking of sin will be withdrawn. Through all the ages, sin, wrath, and justice have been restrained by God's mercy; but when all mercy is utterly rejected, then the restraining power of the Spirit will be lifted, and sin will be permitted to work out all the evil that is in it in the persons of those who have chosen sin rather than choosing God. This outworking of sin because of the rejection of the truth and Spirit of God will be manifest in what are called the "seven last plagues," represented by seven angels pouring out seven bowls of wrath. It is simply giving to men that which they have chosen. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Let us find, first,

The Answer of the Text

1. What wonderful thing was shown John? And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God. Rev. 15: 1. Note 1.
2. Whence did these angels come? And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: and there came out from the temple the seven angels that had the seven plagues, arrayed with precious stone, pure and bright, and girt about their breasts with golden girdles. Verses 5, 6. Note 2.
3. What was given to them, and by whom? And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. Verse 7. Note 3.
4. What occurred as they passed out of the temple? And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and none was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished. Verse 8. Note 4.
5. What command was given them? And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth. Rev. 16: 1. Note 5.
6. What was the result of the pouring out of the first plague? And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and that worshiped his image. Verse 2. Note 6.
7. What occurred when the second plague was poured out? And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, even the things that were in the sea. Verse 3. Note 7.
8. What followed the pouring out of the third plague? And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters; and it became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art Thou, who art and who wast, Thou Holy One, because Thou didst thus judge: for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and blood hast Thou given them to drink: they are worthy. And I heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments. Verses 4-7. Note 8.
9. What was the consequence of the pouring out of the fourth plague? And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God who hath the power over these plagues; and they repented not to give Him glory. Verses 8, 9. Note 9.
10. Upon what did the fifth plague fall? And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works. Verses 10, 11. Note 10.
11. Where was the sixth plague poured out, and what followed? And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs: for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.) And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon. Verses 12-16. Note 11.
12. What followed when the last plague was poured out? And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great. Verses 17-21. Note 12.

Note and Comment

1. "ANOTHER SIGN . . . GREAT AND MARVELOUS." We again call the reader's attention to what he meets constantly in the Revelation: that these various visions do not record consecutive events, because one vision follows another. Against the wrath of the seven plagues we have already been warned in verses 9 to 11 of the previous chapter. The events of verses 17 to 20 of that chapter all fall within the time of the plagues. In the 15th and 16th chapters we have these plagues particularized which are spoken of in general terms elsewhere.
The time of the outpouring of these plagues seems to be one year, or a prophetic day. This is indicated by Rev. 18: 8: "Therefore IN ONE DAY shall her plagues come." This little period lies between the close of probation and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Rev. 22: 11 will apply, when our Lord closes His priestly work, and every soul has accepted of His mercy who will accept it; then goes forth that decree: "He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still. Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to each man according as his work is." The term "quickly," the little period intervening between the going forth of the decree and the coming of our Lord, is the time when the plagues are poured out. To this Zephaniah refers, chapter 2: 1-3, applying to that period just before the great day of God begins, in a wonderful appeal to God's children: "Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame; before the decree bring forth, before the day [of salvation] pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you." The next verse intimates that all may find mercy then, if they will seek Him. The pouring out of these plagues John describes as "great and marvelous." It was a wonderful thing in God's dealings with men. Through all the ages previously, His wrath had been mixed with mercy. Now there is to be poured out wrath unmixed, for the world will have exhausted His mercy; nothing is left to them but the dregs of wrath. So the psalmist expresses it as applying through all the ages of sin: "There is a cup, and the wine foameth; it is full of mixture, and He poureth out of the same: surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall drain them, and drink them." It is that unmixed cup of which the third angel's message warns us. Referring to this time, Isaiah says: "For Jehovah will rise up as in Mount Perazim, He will be wroth as in the Valley of Gibeon; that He may do His work, His STRANGE work, and bring to pass His act, His STRANGE act. Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, upon the whole earth." Isa. 28: 21, 22.
2. "THE TEMPLE OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY IN HEAVEN WAS OPENED."—The temple, as before shown, is the place where our Lord ministers as priest. The testimony is God's witness to His character, His holy law, "the tables of the testimony." This is again brought before us to show the absolute justice of the wrath which is to come. It is the law which points out sin. It is the transgression of the law which is sin. It is against sin that the justice of God is arrayed.
3. "ONE OF THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES."—These living creatures have been considered in the articles on Revelation 4 and 5, therefore we will not stop to study them here, other than to say that they are great agencies of God, those His Spirit has been using through the ages for the development and effecting of His work. If the "one of the living creatures" is the first of the living creatures, it is one like a lion, indicating strength and power. Would that those who are going on in their wickedness and sinfulness might appreciate the great fact that they are running against what Job calls "the thick bosses" of God's buckler. They are pitting themselves against eternal Might and Power. This living creature, who has been connected with God's work through all the ages, is fittingly represented, when the time comes that justice must be rendered, as handing to those who execute the justice, the bowls of wrath.
4. "AND THE TEMPLE WAS FILLED WITH SMOKE FROM THE GLORY OF GOD."—Referring back to Ex. 40: 34, 35, when the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle, and nobody was able to enter into it in ministry. This would indicate that the Lord's ministry as priest had closed, and the overpowering glory of God filled the house. It could not be entered again until justice had been rendered, and the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished.
5. "A GREAT VOICE OUT OF THE TEMPLE."—The only one in the temple is God, where His glory is manifest. All ministers of mercy are excluded. Justice must be rendered, and the great voice from the temple gives the command, "Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth." Sin unrestrained will be permitted to work out all its evil.
6. "A NOISOME AND GRIEVOUS SORE."—We have no reason to believe that these plagues are not literal. The mind of the Bible student immediately goes back to Egypt and the departure of Israel from that wicked kingdom. Upon them ten plagues were poured out. Those plagues were literal, are said to be there, and again and again are referred to in the same way. Most, if not all, of those plagues had particular reference to the false worship of the Egyptians. Their very gods, or the symbols of their gods, became to them plagues. So when the world becomes that great Egypt of darkness, identifying itself with sin, and launching all its power in rebellion against God, the plagues fitting to the condition of the earth will be poured out upon them, as were those upon Egypt.
The "noisome and grievous sore" is a fitting emblem of the outbreaking of sin. Men have transgressed every law of God. They have transgressed physical laws. The world is becoming, to greater or less extent, a veritable Sodom in vice; and when that time comes that the restraining mercy of God is lifted, the vices, the habits, the sins, the transgressions of men will be manifest in the outbreaking of these transgressions in a noisome and grievous sore, which no medical skill can stay. It falls especially upon the men that have the mark of the beast, and that worship his image, and this will be nearly, if not wholly, worldwide. They have rejected God's seal, they have accepted the mark of him who is in rebellion against God; and God has permitted sin to manifest itself in a mark of utter and absolute corruption—a symbol of the condition of the heart itself.
7. "INTO THE SEA, AND IT BECAME AS BLOOD."—Not only as blood, but as the blood of the dead man—the serum of the blood, that which is very poisonous, against which physicians must very carefully guard themselves in their dissecting chambers. But here the very sea itself is so changed in nature that it becomes as poisonous as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died, even the things that were in the sea. What a horrible picture is thus presented before us, of the outworking of sin!
8. "THE THIRD POURED OUT HIS BOWL INTO THE RIVERS AND THE FOUNTAINS OF THE WATERS; AND IT BECAME BLOOD."—The plague is extended from the sea to the land, and the very angels themselves approve of the sentence. "Righteous art Thou, who art and who wast, Thou Holy One, because Thou didst thus judge." In rejecting God and God's truth in these last days, the world identifies itself with those who have put to death God's children in the past. They became guilty of the blood of saints and prophets, and therefore blood has been given them to drink, for they are worthy. Read the words of our Saviour to the generation which rejected Him at His first coming. To that generation He declares that "upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." So, knowing all these things of the past, when the last generation shall identify themselves with all who have rebelled against God in the past, they by those very acts identify themselves with all those who have persecuted God's children, who have shed the blood of His saints; and it is but fitting that blood should be given them to drink.
9. "UPON THE SUN."—From a prediction found in Isaiah concerning the new earth when freed from sin, we may know how the sun will shine in all its wonderful glory. "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the hurt of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." Isa. 30: 26.
In order that men may not be blinded by the glory which God has placed in the sun, the Lord has veiled even the sun from the earth; but when the plagues are poured out, even this veil shall be taken away, and the sun will be permitted to shine in its fierceness. We have some indication of what that will be in the hot waves which sweep over the earth at times. The sun shines so fiercely that hundreds die because of the effect of its rays. What will it be when it is allowed to shine out in all its glory? It will have power to scorch men with fire. Its effect is not, however, to lead them to repentance, because they have turned away from this, and have lost all power to repent; consequently they blaspheme the name of God and repent not to give Him glory.
10. "UPON THE THRONE OF THE BEAST."—As we have before learned, the beast is Satan's great agent, the great rival system to God's truth. It has its headquarters, its local habitation, which at that time may be the earthly Jerusalem; but wherever it may be located, there the fifth plague will be especially manifest. Just as upon Egypt of old came darkness, so upon this darker Egypt, this darkest of dark Babylon, will fall fearful darkness, typical of the spiritual darkness which has rejected the light of God's truth. And again God is blasphemed, and again there is no repentance, because there is no power torepent. The goodness of God leads to repentance; but when we reject all the drawing power of His Spirit, there is nothing to arouse in man repentance. The scientific religion of to-day declares that there is in every man the presence of God, that God is immanent in man by His Spirit, and that every one, whether good or bad, as men look upon it, has enough of this power within him to overcome, to win victory, develop right character. Against this has been the truth of God stated over and over again in His Word, that those without Christ, without faith, are 'separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.' These God's Spirit has ever called. But when the time comes that men reject every overture of mercy, the Spirit can call no longer to repentance, and men apart from God have no desire, even, to repent. These plagues do not immediately kill. The sores are still manifest, and the thirst, and the darkness.
11. 'UPON THE GREAT RIVER EUPHRATES.'—It has been said that the sixth plague differs from all others, and that it applies to the Turkish power, through whose territory the Euphrates River flows, and that the drying up has been taking place through the years past in the diminishment of the power of Turkey, really making the plague antedate all the others. It seems to us that such a position is contrary to Scripture. To say that the sixth plague is entirely different in nature and character from the five which precede it, and the seventh, which follows it, is to set aside all harmony of interpretation, and base the exposition of the Bible upon pure arbitrary assumption. To say that each and all the other plagues are 'the acts of God,' and the sixth is 'the act of men,' seems to us wholly unwarranted. For, first, the Bible presents these plagues as a series of seven great occurrences in which is filled up the wrath of God, and which when once poured out will continue until the wrath of God is completed in the banishment of sin from His universe. Second, they are all caused by supernatural agencies—seven angels, who go forth from the heavenly temple, where mercy pleads no more, and pour out their seven bowls of wrath upon the earth. All are literal: the first, world-wide as regards character, but local as regards persons affected; the second is as extensive as the sea; the third is upon the fountains of waters—the world-wide land-waters, save where God's children may be hiding among the mountains, affecting those who have the persecuting spirit; the fourth as world-wide as is the sun; the fifth falling upon the seat of the beast, the very center of Babylonian dominion, which then, for aught we know, may be Jerusalem. Zech. 14: 12. Why should the sixth plague be other than local, smiting that great power which God used as a scourge of apostasy and idolatry, but which perverted God's truth itself, and became as bad as either?
If the Euphrates symbolizes the Mohammedan power, it does not follow that the drying up is the consuming of that power by other powers. If that were so, then the pouring out of that plague has long been in progress, and should have been marked as the first bowl of wrath, poured out previous to the close of probation. The Mohammedan religion is a religion without life, without the moisture which preserves life. God removes His life and His mercy, and the system dries up, desiccates. But it may have application to the very river itself. The Nile is one of the great factors of Egypt, and especially since the mighty engineering work has been wrought there it has become more so; but the same engineers who had charge of the work in Egypt are now working upon the valley of the Euphrates, and that valley of the Euphrates will again be restored to its wonderful fertility, and the river itself will become a mighty factor in that. The Euphrates Valley was in old time one of the most fertile spots of earth. Under new irrigation projects, it may become the most fertile valley of earth again, teeming with population. Germany has a concession for a railway down through that valley, with a strip of land six miles wide, if we remember correctly, on either side, policed by her own soldiery. The literal drying up of that river under such circumstances would have a tremendous effect upon the conditions in the world and upon the coming of the kings of the East; and that would be emphatically true if it applied to the power then holding that territory with Turkey, which would probably be Germany. This is future; we may not say just exactly what will be; but this we may say, that that plague will be in its nature as literal, in its time as local, as the other plagues. It is the kings of the earth coming to show that it is God's time for the great, last struggle of Armageddon. These armed hosts do not come to dry up the river Euphrates; the river is dried up by the act of God, in order that the powers may gather at Jerusalem.
The warning of verse 13 is not then given because that plague is a sign, for five plagues have already preceded it since probation closed.
What God does warn against in that verse is the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, which are used to deceive, if possible, God's elect, as well as to gather together the powers to war. The sixth plague marks the culmination of all earthly, anti-christian schemes under the leadership of Satan; all the peace projects of men, all the religious federations which leave out of prime consideration the great, fundamental truths of Christianity, are now swept, under the delusion of Spiritualism, into the great maelstrom of the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
Read of this gathering of the nations in the 25th chapter of Jeremiah, when all nations shall be gathered together by the spirit of war. These unclean spirits are now at work. Noble men are endeavoring to arouse a spirit of peace throughout the world, and at times they seem to be gathering strength; but after the resolutions of peace have passed, the preparations for war increase apace. Men are moved by the unclean spirits from the mouth of the dragon and the beast and the false prophet—the spirits of demons gathering to battle.
12. 'THE SEVENTH POURED OUT HIS BOWL UPON THE AIR'—world-wide. All the wrath of God, all the results of age-long sin, are now in operation, and there comes the great voice from the temple, 'It is done.' Thus we read in Joel, referring to the same time: 'And Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake.' Joel 3: 16. And so in Revelation, 'There were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty.' And the great mystical city, Babylon, as divided, falls, and the cities of the nations fall. And the great system, Babylon, the great antagonistic, organized world powers against the truth of God, come before Him to drink of the fullness of the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath; and the great hail, surpassing all other storms of hail—every stone about the weight of a talent, fifty or sixty pounds,—even as the earthquake surpasses all other earthquakes, falls upon men. The Lord speaks of this to Job as tho the hail was 'reserved' for that day. 'Hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?' Job 38: 22. So the hail became a plague in Egypt. So all agencies of destruction are loosed at the time of the pouring out of the seventh plague, which, added to the plague of the hail, makes it indeed exceeding great.
It is an awful chapter, one which we would fain leave without remark or comment; but as God has Himself given it in His great mercy, to warn men of the sure outcome of sin, so, to be faithful to our trust, we ourselves must give it, and plead with men to hide in God from all the calamities which are depicted in the outpouring of these plagues.
Joel, in referring to this very time, in connection with the passage which we have before quoted of the great shaking of the heavens and the earth, declares, 'But Jehovah will be a refuge unto His people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.'
And the psalmist declares of those who hide in God, who make God their trust: 'He will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover thee with His pinions, and under His wings shalt thou take refuge: His truth is a shield and a buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.' 'There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. For He will give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.' And the reason for this is: 'For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation.' He also declares: 'Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, and honor him.'
Read the whole of the 91st Psalm. It is God's comfort to His children in all times of trouble. — ★ ★ —